Point Loma Nazarene University’s Associated Student Body has announced the board of directors for the 2026-27 academic year. Leah Boles, a third-year finance major, will be president, and Meg Snyder, a second-year psychology major, will be vice president.
According to Connor Mathisen, PLNU director of community life, three students were interested in running for president, but two pulled out due to other commitments, leaving only Boles on the ballot.
“My choice to run for president wasn’t because it was going to be an unopposed position,” Boles said. “I was actually really surprised when I was running unopposed … it was definitely a shock.”
Mathisen said that he thinks the reason some people were dissuaded from running for president was that they didn’t want to run against friends. Boles said she thinks people might have been deterred because of potential bullying as a result of being in the spotlight.
“It’s always daunting to get up on stage and share what you’re passionate about and put yourself in front of people,” Boles said. “People can be really mean sometimes.”
In November, PLNU’s ASB board was contacted by Fox News about TPUSA at Loma being denied a chapter on campus. Kenzie Lopez, ASB’s current president, said she thinks there might be a correlation between this and why fewer people ran.
“We were put under the spotlight more than usual because of what [happened] last semester,” Lopez said. “I think that’s what scared a lot of people.”
Snyder currently serves as TPUSA at Loma’s recruitment chair. However, as ASB’s vice president, she will be working with PLNU’s senate and not its clubs. She said TPUSA and ASB are separate entities to her, and they do not correlate.
Snyder said that while she’s vice president, she wants to listen to all perspectives.
“I will just be as open-minded as I can and just try and listen to everyone,” Snyder said. “I think that’s just the best that we can do.”
Mathisen said he’s excited for this new board to come into office.
“They’re a really talented group of students [and] they’re really passionate about this place as well, which I think is really important in the ASB role,” Mathisen said. “I’m excited to see how they make the roles their own and how they impact the campus next year.”
Lopez said she’s proud of the new board of directors and their willingness to say “yes.”
“Even though they saw what happened last semester, they still [wanted to] run for the board,” Lopez said. “That’s really admirable and really brave of them to do that.”
Olivia Roberts